Course Level 5

This program follows and complements the work done in the Certificate Program. It is also designed as a “stand-alone” course to prepare students to meet the requirements of most full-time accredited colleges and universities, including Berklee College of Music. It helps to develop the professional performance skills required to succeed as a professional musician, including proficiency in the most important styles and the repertoire commonly used in those styles. Each week students play two live rehearsals with a professional faculty ensemble. In addition to the rhythm sections class, the PMP students participate in weekly musicianship, and reading classes as well as an elective class and private lessons.

This program includes the following classes:

Musicianship:
This class is a part of a seven-level sequence, which focuses on music theory, aural skills, and keyboard proficiency.

Reading Proficiency Program:
The Collective Reading Proficiency Program consists of a series of progressive classes on levels from 1 to 7. Students learn sight-reading skills and the ability to interpret music from a wide variety of sources and formats.

Performance Sequence: This sequence of classes gives students the opportunity to review and incorporate some of the important styles and repertoire presented in the Certificate Program. Students rehearse together in a rhythm section setting to learn the “must know” repertoire in the various styles coved in the class. All styles and tunes included in this sequence are known to be those of which any competent professional musician would be expected to be proficient in and to know when called to do a gig.

Styles covered in the PMP performance sequence:
Rock
Funk/R&B
Jazz
Brazilian
Afro-Cuban
Afro-Caribbean

Pro Rehearsal:
This performance-oriented class gives students the opportunity to perform with a professional rhythm section twice a week, playing challenging repertoire, in a variety of styles and meters. Students are required to learn a designated number of tunes from The Collective’s “must know” tune list. This class culminates in a public recital.

Elective Class:
Students choose from a series of elective classes. Each elective class has a specific stylistic or technical focus, allowing the individual student the opportunity to personalize his/her plan of study.

Individual Study and Practice:
Anchor teacher Private Lessons:

Students are assigned a private instructor who acts as the student’s principal teacher and advisor. Students meet with this teacher 8 times during the semester, usually weekly, starting in week 2 of the semester. Students are also allocated 2 additional elective private lessons with a teacher, or series of teachers, of their choice.

Daily Individual Practice Time: Students are assigned 2 hours a day during the week, open hours on the weekend, and additional hours available at off peak times throughout the week.


Elective Class Class Offerings

Elective classes* are offered every semester contingent upon enrollment. Elective classes are included in every second-year program: Performance Musicianship Program, Elective Intensive Program, and Advanced Performance Program. Students in these programs should make a selection from the list below. Students not in one of these programs may add an elective class to their program for an additional tuition fee.

*Class offerings and teachers are subject to change without notice.


Elective Classes for All Instruments:

Drum-set Performance for Non-Drummers
This class is geared toward those musicians who are interested in learning drums as a secondary instrument. Students will be exposed to rudimental and technique work on a drum pad as well as the foundational basis of Rock and Jazz study on drum set. Students should be able to display the ability to perform rudimental exercises, in group participation and individual drum set exercises in a classroom setting.

Finale
Students are introduced to the Finale software package and learn how to manipulate the various tools available through the program, including standard notation of notes, chords, and lyrics. Materials include a series of sequential notation exercises presented by the class instructor for completion and submission.

Introduction to Music Productionl
Students are introduced to the industry-standard ProTools software techniques, including basics of audio and MIDI recording, editing, mixing, and file handling, with special focus on the computer workstation, and its maintenance, as the tool of modern music production. Students will have an opportunity to prepare their class assignments on supplied ProTools workstations.

Vocal Technique for Musicians
This class is designed to help musicians develop basic vocal performance skills. Classwork includes proper singing techniques, production of a good vocal sound, and performance on selected repertoire.

Exam requirements: The student is expected to show basic competency in utilizing vocal technique in the application on standard pop vocal material, both as a lead singer and a “backup” singer.


Elective Classes for Drummers

Drummers Soloing and Improvisation

In this class students learn the common vocabulary in drum solos and taught to improvise on solo ideas and trade drum solos with other musicians in both a jazz and groove oriented music setting. Students will also be presented the chronological evolution of drum solos through the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and modern music. Notable drum solos (Tony Williams, Steve Gadd, etc.) will be analyzed in class.

Basic Vocabulary patterns (8th note triplets on snare and bass drum) Advanced patterns (16th note triplets and combinations) Combining different ideas and composing original ideas

Odd Meters
The aim of this class is to familiarize the student with a broad scope off odd metered music performed in today’s contemporary music. Part survey and part hands on, the class takes students through some of the most relevant examples of odd metered music which the students are required to assimilate to the best of their ability. Ways of staying in the form of a given meter are discussed, as well as different possibilities which concern over the bar phrasing. Vocalizing as a primary tool for internalizing different types of odd metered phrasing is stressed above all other techniques (counting, reliance on specific sticking)

Polyrhythms
This class will cover a wide of array of multi-limb independence and time exercises based around poly-metric, polyrhythmic and metrically modulated topics. Using rhythmic melodies from some of drumming’s most popular books, student will learn how to read and/or create patterns using various simultaneous meters. In addition, students will gain more experience in a wide array of time signature study as well as over the bar soloing concepts. Assignments vary weekly and are performed and monitored closely in each class.

Brushes
This class prepares the student to be able to play most common and important brush patterns in 4/4, 3/4. Students Learns correct hand motions to play a tempo range of 60 to 300 BPM.

Outline:
Simple jazz patterns at various tempos
Adding the Bass drum
Adding the Hi-hat
Combining all the elements

Moeller Technique
The Moeller technique dates back to the 1800’s, and it’s used to play the drums with more ease, Power, Speed and control. This is a technique that was discovered by the legendary teacher Sanford Moeller and was popularized by another teaching legend, Jim Chapin. The Collective instructor Peter Retzlaff, a longtime student of Jim Chapin, teaches Moeller fundamentals and their application to playing both the snare drum and the drumset. Step by step instruction is given on learning initial Moeller strokes on the snare drum. In later classes, students learn to move strokes around the drumset and play grooves utilizing Moeller technique. Finally, modern advancements such as push/pull technique are discovered as addition to Moeller strokes.